"According to ICE detainer-by-detainer records released to TRAC, during April 2015 only about one third (32%) of individuals on whom detainers were placed had been convicted of a crime. And only 19 percent had a felony conviction. Fully two-thirds had no criminal conviction of any type (see Figure 2). This contrasts sharply with the announced goal that, unless an individual "poses a demonstrable risk to national security," "ICE should only seek transfer of an alien in the custody of state or local laws enforcement" when that person had been "convicted of specifically enumerated [serious] crimes." [Emphasis supplied.]

Data for April 2015 thus provide little evidence that ICE has begun to limit detainer requests to individuals with serious convictions, let alone to persons convicted of at least some minor offense. If anything, the trend has since moved opposite what might have been expected based on the new directive. Individuals with criminal convictions have become significantly less common among detainers issued during April 2015 than they were during the FY 2012 — FY 2013 period. As TRAC has reported, during that period half of detainers issued were for individuals with a criminal record, not just one third. An even smaller percentage — roughly one in five — had a felony conviction in either period. This seems to stand at odds to what is called for in Secretary Johnson's directives."

TRAC also found that "fewer than one out of every five detainers seem to have met the 'special circumstances' set out under Secretary Johnson's directive; this is virtually unchanged from what was observed for the period from FY 2012 through the first four months of FY 2013."

Comments

Nolan Rappaport
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09-01-2015 03:18 PM

i don't disagree with what you are saying about detainers, but I think you need to put this information into perspective before you make judgments about the Administration. The enforcement statistics indicate that the Administration is focusing its enforcement policy by focussing its efforts on criminals, aliens who have been deported previously, and aliens caught in the vicinity of the border with Mexico (who presumably entered without inspection, which is a crime -first offense a misdemeanor and second a felony. Please hold off on your point that aliens with non-serious run ins with the law are being turned over to ICE. Your comments about detainer policy do not necessarily indicate that the Administration is not following that policy. You need additional information to make such a judgment, such as the following:

1. How many non-criminal, undocumented immigrants are being deported each year who were not caught near the border and have not been deported previously? Again, please do not count undocumented aliens who were arrested for a criminal offense. That would make it difficult to answer the following, very important question. And my third question will address your non-serious crime group.

2. What is the statistical likelihood that an undocumented alien living in the United States will be deported if he is not arrested for a criminal offense? If you can't answer this question, you have no way of knowing whether an alien who does not run afoul of the law is in significant danger of being deported under the Administration's enforcement policy.

3. Now getting to the group you are concerned about. How many aliens are turned over to ICE custody by local police authorities? How many of those aliens are deported? I suspect that the policy of sticking with serious criminals is being followed but that it isn't applied until after the alien in the non-serious category you are concerned about is examined and processed by ICE. Do you have information contradicting that possibility?

Nolan Rappaport
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09-01-2015 03:51 PM

Note. I made so many typos in my comment that I need to resubmit it. I have trouble reading what I type on my I phone.Sorry. Will try harder this time.

I don't disagree with what you are saying about detainers, but I think you need to put this information into perspective before you make judgments about the Administration. The DHS enforcement statistics indicate that the Administration is following its enforcement policy by focussing its efforts on criminals, aliens who have been deported previously, and aliens caught in the vicinity of the border with Mexico (who presumably entered without inspection, which is a crime -first offense a misdemeanor and second a felony). Please hold off on your point that aliens with non-serious run ins with the law are being turned over to ICE. Your comments about detainer policy do not necessarily indicate that the Administration is not following its DEPORTATION policy. You need additional information to make such a judgment, such as the following:

1. How many non-criminal, undocumented immigrants are being deported each year who were not caught near the border and have not been deported previously? Again, please do not count undocumented aliens who were arrested for a non serious criminal offense. That would make it difficult to answer the following, very important question. And my third question will address your non-serious crime group.

2. What is the statistical likelihood that an undocumented alien living in the United States will be deported if he is not arrested for a criminal offense of any kind, serious or not? If you can't answer this question, you have no way of knowing whether an alien who does not run afoul of the law is in significant danger of being deported under the Administration's DEPORTATION policy.

3. Now getting to the group you are concerned about. How many aliens who are arrested for non-serious criminal offenses are turned over to ICE custody by local police authorities? And how many of those aliens are deported? I suspect that the Administration's deportation policy of deporting only the serious criminals is being followed but that it isn't applied until after the aliens in the non-serious category you are concerned about are examined and processed by ICE. Do you have information contradicting that possibility?

Excited
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09-01-2015 10:44 PM

President Trump's first executive order: 1. Deport all illegal aliens with contact with DHS. 2. Sue all sanctuary cities. 3. Reinstate Secure Communities. 4. Mandate E-Verify 5. Build extensive wall and deduct cost from Mexican foreign aid. Slow at first at about 400,000 interior removals the first year, but then word will spread and the illegal population will disappear rapidly.

ImmigrantinSeattle
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09-04-2015 01:27 PM

Originally Posted by Nolan Rappaport

Note. I made so many typos in my comment that I need to resubmit it. I have trouble reading what I type on my I phone.Sorry. Will try harder this time.

I don't disagree with what you are saying about detainers, but I think you need to put this information into perspective before you make judgments about the Administration. The DHS enforcement statistics indicate that the Administration is following its enforcement policy by focussing its efforts on criminals, aliens who have been deported previously, and aliens caught in the vicinity of the border with Mexico (who presumably entered without inspection, which is a crime -first offense a misdemeanor and second a felony). Please hold off on your point that aliens with non-serious run ins with the law are being turned over to ICE. Your comments about detainer policy do not necessarily indicate that the Administration is not following its DEPORTATION policy. You need additional information to make such a judgment, such as the following:

1. How many non-criminal, undocumented immigrants are being deported each year who were not caught near the border and have not been deported previously? Again, please do not count undocumented aliens who were arrested for a non serious criminal offense. That would make it difficult to answer the following, very important question. And my third question will address your non-serious crime group.

2. What is the statistical likelihood that an undocumented alien living in the United States will be deported if he is not arrested for a criminal offense of any kind, serious or not? If you can't answer this question, you have no way of knowing whether an alien who does not run afoul of the law is in significant danger of being deported under the Administration's DEPORTATION policy.

3. Now getting to the group you are concerned about. How many aliens who are arrested for non-serious criminal offenses are turned over to ICE custody by local police authorities? And how many of those aliens are deported? I suspect that the Administration's deportation policy of deporting only the serious criminals is being followed but that it isn't applied until after the aliens in the non-serious category you are concerned about are examined and processed by ICE. Do you have information contradicting that possibility?

Number 2 is evidenced by all outstanding final orders of removal issued by the administration between 2009 and 2012 - many, many of which were the result of being encountered by ICE during routine operation, not because of criminal behavior. Even with equities, and 100% clean backgrounds, this administration pursued deportation of long-time undocumented residents.

Worse, there is case after case of individuals and families affected by this for whom the administration refuses to reopen and terminate/administrative close their cases in order to vacate their removal order; all in contradiction to 'prosecutorial discretion' policies from 2011 to present. A fraction of these can be found here: http://www.notonemoredeportation.com/.

All one has to do is review all outstanding orders of removal of long-time undocumented prior to the 11/20/2014 announcement to see evidence of this; plenty of which have not a single traffic ticket or any other considered 'misconduct' and DHS is completely aware of their background.

Matthew L. Kolken is a trial lawyer with experience in all aspects of United States Immigration Law – including deportation defense before Immigration Courts throughout the United States, appellate practice before the Board of Immigration Appeals, the U.S. District Courts, and U.S. Courts of Appeals. He is admitted to practice in the courts of the State of New York, the United States District Court for the Western District of New York, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and has been a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) since 1997.